John Olsen

John Olsen (b.1928)

Olsen studied at the Julian Ashton School (with Passmore); Orban School, 1950-56, Paris, 1957-60 (engraving with Hayter); independent study in Spain. Olsen‚s independent outlook became evident when he took part in a anti-Archibald Prize demonstration at the AGNSW in 1953. He gained his first official success in Melbourne, 1955-56, when a small painting
was bought for the NGV from the Herald Outdoor Art Show.

By 1957 the Sydney critic Paul Haefliger had recognised his potential and private subscribers raised a fund to send Olsen abroad. He sent exhibitions to Sydney and Melbourne, 1958-59, and returned after three years to introduce an expressionistic type of painting reflecting the combined influences of the Dutch painter Corneille and the Scots painter Alan Davie.

The first impact of this work was felt when, with other young Sydney painters, Olsen took part in the Sydney Nine inaugural exhibition, 1961, to introduce to the vocabulary of Australian art a new title, You Beaut Country. This title was crucial to his subsequent success.

European influences in his work were fused to produce individual child-art type imagery expressed with a sophistication and panache, added to which was a strong, natural feeling for his Australian envionment. A wandering, child-like scawl of linear superstructure was imposed on a rich, free, colourful scumble of underpainting of alternating opaque and transparent passages. The colloquaially titled series, which began with Journey into You Beaut Country, summed up the attitude and drew attention to Olsen‚s Irish-inspired wit and his affection for the general character of Sydney and environs. In 1963 he designed a series of tapestries made in Portugal and the following year went to Europe to further his work in this field, returning to Sydney in 1967.

Until 1970 he conducted the Bakery Art School, Sydney, and in the same year received a commission from the Dobell Foundation to paint the Sydney Opera House mural Salute to Five Bells, inspired by a poem by Kenneth Slessor and completed in 1973. One year later he began a number of tours of Central Australia (1974-76) in company with the naturalist
Vincent Serventy, an experience that gave his map-like drawings a lyrical and ecological character. In 1978 he extended these travels to include Egypt, Kenya and South Africa. He became a trustee of the AGNSW in 1978 and both as practising artist and administrator has continued to excerpt great influence on art affairs of NSW.

His work was represented in the Bicentennial exhibition The Great Australian Art Exhibition and a major retrospective of his work was curated by the NGV and toured to other state galleries 1991-92.

AWARDS: Prizes at Rockdale, 1960; Brisbane (Caselli-Richards), 1961;Perth, 1961; Sydney (Royal Easter Show), 1961;Melbourne (Georges Invitation Prize), 1963; Launceston, 1964; Sydney (Wynne Prize),1969; OBE, 1977; creative arts fellowship, Australia Council, (five years), 1993.

REP: NGA; state galleries and many regional galleries including Ballarat, Mornington Orange, Newcastle.

BIB: All general books on Australian contemporary art history, Virginia Spate, John Olsen, Australian Art Monographs, Georgian House, Melbourne, 1963. Sandra McGrath, Lake Eyre - the Desert Sea, Lansdowne, Melbourne, 1979. John Olsen: My complete Graphics 57-79, Gryphon Books and Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 1980. Deborah Hast, John Olsen,
Craftsman House, 1992. A&A 14/2/1976 (Sandra McGrath, A Remote Eden) 24/3/1987. Al, 2/2/1982.



Biography
1928 born in Newcastle, NSW
1935 family moves to Bondi Beach
1943 leaves school to work as a clerk, then becomes a freelance cartoonist for publications such as Man and Fashion Design
1947 attends Datillo Rubbo Art School
1950 attends Julian Ashton Art School where he studies under John Passmore, and later Godfrey Miller at East Sydney Technical College
1952 - 55 exhibits with the Society of Artists
1955 first major exhibition, at Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1956 participates in important abstract and abstract expressionist exhbition, ‘Direction 1’
1957 - 60 travels to Europe
1965 - 67 lives in London and Portugal
1968 establishes the Bakery Art School, Sydney
1969 - 71 lives at Dunmoochin, Victoria, in the artist community started by Clifton Pugh, where he worked with artists such as Fred Williams and Albert Tucker; wins Wynne Prize
1973 completes Sydney Opera House mural 'Salute to Five Bells', based on Kenneth Slessor's poem
1970s - 1980s Tours through central Australia, and later Egypt, Kenya and South Africa
1985 wins the Wynne Prize
1988 paints mural for Darling Harbour Project, Sydney
1991 retrospective at National Gallery of Victoria, tours Australia
1997 publishes his autobiography, ‘Drawn from Life’

Selected Solo Exhibitions
1955 John Olsen, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1958 John Olsen, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1960 Olsen, Galerie Lambert, Paris
John Olsen, Terry Clune Galleries, Sydney
1963 An Exhibition of Recent Paintings, Gouaches & Drawings by John Olsen,
Clune Galleries, Sydney
John Olsen: Recent Paintings, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1965 John Olsen, Clune Galleries, Sydney
John Olsen, South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne
1967 Entrance to the Castle of Life: John Olsen 66-67, Clune Galleries, Sydney
Entrance to the Castle of Life: John Olsen 66-67, South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne
1969 The Dunmoochin Summer: John Olsen '69, Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
John Olsen '69- Exhibition of Gouches and Oil Paintings, White Studio, Adelaide
1970 John Olsen, Reid Gallery, Brisbane
1971 John Olsen, Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
1972 John Olsen, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1973 John Olsen, Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
1974 John Olsen, Atelier 72 Gallery, Adelaide
1975 John Olsen: Edge of the Void, Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
John Olsen 74-75: Edge of the Void and Opera House Mural Studies,
Australian Galleries, Melbourne
Edge of the Void: Paintings, Drawings, Etchings and Lithographs by John Olsen,
Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide
John Olsen: Etchings, Gallery Huntly, Canberra
1976 John Olsen: Recent oil paintings, gouches, drawings and etchings,
Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane The Child in us All, St John's Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane
1977 John Olsen: Recent Paintings, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1978 John Olsen: Paintings and Drawings 77-78, Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney
1979 John Olsen: Earth Hold etchings, Cintra House, Brisbane
1980 John Olsen: Exhibition of Recent Paintings, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
John Olsen: Paintings and Drawings 77-80 Lister Gallery, Festival of Perth, Perth
John Olsen: My Complete Graphics, David Reid Gallery, Sydney
1981 John Olsen: A Sliver of Time, Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney
1982 John Olsen 81-82 and Noela Hjorth, Bortignon's Kalamunda Gallery of Man, Festival of Perth, Perth
John Olsen, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1983 John Olsen: Selected Graphics, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
John Olsen - The Land Beyond Time, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
(touring exhibition- travelling throughout Australia 1984-1990)
1984 John Olsen, Tynte Gallery, Adelaide Festival 1984, Adelaide
1985 John Olsen, Tynte Gallery, Adelaide
1986 Paintings and Drawings by John Olsen from the permanent collection,
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
John Olsen - In Search of the Open Country 1961-1986, Heide, Melbourne
John Olsen: Gold, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
John Olsen, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1987/8 John Olsen - Encounters with Drawing, Wollongong City Gallery, Wollongong
1988 John Olsen - Encounters with Drawing, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1989 John Olsen, Greenhill Gallery, Perth
1990 John Olsen, Australian Galleries, Sydney
1991 John Olsen, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1991/2 John Olsen Retrospective, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1 Nov 1991 - 3 Feb 1992
1992 John Olsen Retrospective, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 8 May - 28 June, 1992
1993 John Olsen: Recent Works, Sherman Galleries Goodhope, Sydney
John Olsen: Recent Etchings, Olsen Carr Art Dealers, Sydney
1994 John Olsen: Recent Work 1992-1994, Deutscher Fine Art, Melbourne
1995 John Olsen: Recent Works, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
1998 John Olsen: Recent Paintings 1995 - 1998, Olsen Carr Art Dealers, Sydney
'New York Nowhere', recent paintings and works on paper, Olsen Carr Art Dealers, Sydney
2000 John Olsen: Past & Present, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney

Selected Group Exhibitions
1956 Direction 1,Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Pacific Loans Exhibition, Auckland and San Francisco.
1961 Sydney 9, Gallery A, Melbourne; Recent Australian Art, Whitechapel Gallery, London; H.C. Richards Memorial prize, Queensland Art Gallery
1963 Georges Invitation Prize, Melbourne.
1967 Australian Painters 1964-66, Corcoran Gallery, Washington U.SA
1969 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
1976 The Child in us All, John Olsen: Tapestries and oils on hardboard, and Peter Travis: Kite installations, Queensland Festival of Art, St. Johns Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane
1977 Australian Contemporary Printmakers, Stadia Graphics Gallery, Sydney
1978 Australian Etching, National Gallery of Victoria
1979 Focus '79 R.M.I.T.
1982 John Olsen 1981-82 & Noela Hjorth; Paintings, lithographs & drawings, Festival of Perth Exhibition, Bortignon's Gallery of Man, Perth; Aspects of the Landscape, Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne.
1986 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
1987 Jack Manton Art Prize, Queensland
1998 – 1999 Southern Reflections: Ten Contemporary Artists, toured Northern Europe
1998 Private Collections, Orange Regional Gallery
1998 – 1999 Escape Artists: Modernists in the Tropics, touring regional galleries in Queensland and New South Wales

Awards
1960 Rockdale Prize
1961 H.C. Richards Memorial Prize (Queensland Art Gallery), Perth Prize
1962 Royal Sydney Show Prize
1963 Georges Art Prize, Melbourne
1964 Launceston Prize, Tasmania
1969 Wynne Prize (Art Gallery of New South Wales)
1977 Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) for services to the Arts
1985 Wynne Prize (Art Gallery of New South Wales)
1993 Australian Creative Fellowship
2001 Order of Australia (O.A.)

Collections
John Olsen's work is represented in all Australian State gallery collections, the National Gallery of Australia and regional galleries Australia wide. He is also represented in institutional, corporate and private collections in Australia, Asia, the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States of America.

Selected Bibliography
Virginia Spate, John Olsen, Georgian House, Melbourne, 1973
John Olsen, Salute to Five Bells: John Olsen's Opera House Journal, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1973
John Olsen, My Complete Graphics, 1957-79, Gryphon Books, Melbourne, 1980
Sandra McGrath and John Olsen, The Artist and the Desert, Bay Books, Sydney and London, 1981
John Olsen: Gold, exhibition catalogue, introduction by Edmund Capon, essay by John Olsen, AGNSW, Sydney, 1986
Deborah Hart, John Olsen, Craftsman House, 1991
John Olsen, Drawn from Life, D&S, Sydney, 1997